This Gigantic Robot Kills
Encyclopedia
This Gigantic Robot Kills is the sixth album by nerdcore musician MC Lars
.
Lars has stated that he worked with "Weird Al" Yankovic
, the Rondo Brothers, Nick Rowe and Mike Kennedy of Bloodsimple
, James Bourne
of Busted, Daniel Dart of Time Again, Donal Finn of Flash Bastard, Pierre Bouvier of Simple Plan
, MC Bat Commander of The Aquabats
, Suburban Legends
, Worm Quartet
, Gabriel Saporta of Cobra Starship
, Brett Anderson
of The Donnas
, MC Frontalot
, Amie Miriello of Dirtie Blonde
, Jesse Dangerously
, Linus Dotson of Size 14, Parry Gripp of Nerf Herder
, Jonathan Coulton
, Aesias Finale, Sebastian Reynolds, Brendan B. Brown of Wheatus
, and classical musician Walt Ribeiro
on songs for the new album.
The track "Hey There Ophelia" is based on "Screamager" by Northern Irish band Therapy?
. "Screamager" appears on the Shortsharpshock E.P.
, and the album, Troublegum
.
The track "White Kids Aren't Hyphy" is loosely based on the song "I Wish" by Skee-Lo
.
The title of the album is a tribute to Wesley Willis
, who appeared at the end of the MC Lars song "Yes, I Am an Alien". At the end of the song, Wesley says that he will write a song about Lars on his new album, called "This Gigantic Robot Kills". Wesley died shortly after.
MC Lars
Andrew Robert MacFarlane Nielsen is an American rapper, known by his stage name MC Lars. He is the self-proclaimed originator of "post-punk laptop rap". He was one of the first underground rappers to sample and reference post-punk and emo bands...
.
Lars has stated that he worked with "Weird Al" Yankovic
"Weird Al" Yankovic
Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic is an American singer-songwriter, music producer, accordionist, actor, comedian, writer, satirist, and parodist. Yankovic is known for his humorous songs that make light of popular culture and that often parody specific songs by contemporary musical acts...
, the Rondo Brothers, Nick Rowe and Mike Kennedy of Bloodsimple
Bloodsimple
Bloodsimple is an American heavy metal band from New York City that formed in 2002. They were signed to Warner Bros. Records.The band's name, Bloodsimple, comes from a term coined by detective novelist Dashiell Hammett. The term apparently describes the addled, fearful mindset people are in after...
, James Bourne
James Bourne
James Elliot Bourne is an English singer-songwriter and co-founder of pop bands Son of Dork and Busted. He is currently pursuing a solo career under the name Future Boy. His albums have sold over six million copies...
of Busted, Daniel Dart of Time Again, Donal Finn of Flash Bastard, Pierre Bouvier of Simple Plan
Simple Plan
Simple Plan is a Canadian pop punk band from Montréal, Québec. The band has had no line up changes since its inception in 1999. Members are Pierre Bouvier , Jeff Stinco , Sébastien Lefebvre , David Desrosiers and Chuck Comeau...
, MC Bat Commander of The Aquabats
The Aquabats
The Aquabats are an American rock band formed in 1994 in Orange County, California. They have released five full-length studio albums and have toured internationally. They are best known for their mythology, in which they claim to be superheroes on a quest to save the world from evil through music...
, Suburban Legends
Suburban Legends
Suburban Legends are a third wave ska/pop band that formed in Huntington Beach, California, in 1998, and are currently based out of Santa Ana, California.- History :...
, Worm Quartet
Worm Quartet
Worm Quartet is a one-man Comedy Synth Punk band portrayed on album covers as a group of four worms. The "band" has a growing cult following thanks to exposure on the Dr. Demento show...
, Gabriel Saporta of Cobra Starship
Cobra Starship
Cobra Starship is an American synthpop band created by former Midtown bassist and lead vocalist Gabe Saporta in 2003 in New York City, New York...
, Brett Anderson
Brett Anderson
Brett Lewis Anderson is an English singer-songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist of the band Suede. After Suede disbanded in 2003, he briefly fronted The Tears, and has released four solo albums...
of The Donnas
The Donnas
The Donnas are an American all-female rock band from Palo Alto, California. They draw inspiration from The Ramones, The Runaways, AC/DC, Bachman–Turner Overdrive and Kiss. Rolling Stone has stated that "the Donnas offer a guileless take on adolescent alienation; they traffic in kicks, not...
, MC Frontalot
MC Frontalot
Damian Hess , better known by stage name MC Frontalot, is a Brooklyn-based hip hop musician and self-proclaimed "world's 579th greatest rapper". He is best known in nerdcore hip hop and video game culture, for naming the nerdcore subgenre, and performing at Penny Arcades annual Penny Arcade Expo...
, Amie Miriello of Dirtie Blonde
Dirtie Blonde
Dirtie Blonde was a rock band that consisted of vocalist Amie Miriello, acoustic guitarist Jay Dmuchowski, lead guitarist Sean Kipe, bassist Dean Moore and drummer Tim Perez. The band released the hit single "Walk Over Me" from their self-titled album in the spring of 2006 on the Jive Records...
, Jesse Dangerously
Jesse Dangerously
Jesse Dangerously is an alternative hip hop artist from Halifax, Nova Scotia. He is an active member of the Canadian East Coast music scene through the release of his own albums, appearing as guest vocalist on a large number of recordings by other artists, hosting a weekly radio show, writing a...
, Linus Dotson of Size 14, Parry Gripp of Nerf Herder
Nerf Herder
Nerf Herder is a punk rock band from Santa Barbara formed in 1994 by Parry Gripp , Charlie Dennis and Steve Sherlock . They describe themselves as a "geek rock" band, and are known for simplistic modern punk-style songs with frequently humorous, juvenile and pop-culture-referencing lyrics...
, Jonathan Coulton
Jonathan Coulton
Jonathan Coulton is an American singer-songwriter, known for his songs about geek culture and his use of the Internet to draw fans...
, Aesias Finale, Sebastian Reynolds, Brendan B. Brown of Wheatus
Wheatus
Wheatus are an American rock group from Northport, New York. They are known for their 2000 single "Teenage Dirtbag" which was featured in the movie Loser, as well as in the HBO miniseries Generation Kill.-1995-2002: Formation and Wheatus:...
, and classical musician Walt Ribeiro
Walt Ribeiro
Walt Ribeiro, a New Jersey native, is a composer of classical music. His work has been primarily distributed via the internet. His symphony I.I was written for an 80-piece orchestra, but produced using orchestral sampling software. Ribeiro is also notable for his music tutorials available via...
on songs for the new album.
The track "Hey There Ophelia" is based on "Screamager" by Northern Irish band Therapy?
Therapy?
Therapy? is an alternative metal band from Northern Ireland. The band was formed in 1989 by guitarist–vocalist Andy Cairns from Ballyclare and drummer-vocalist Fyfe Ewing from Larne, Northern Ireland. The band initially recorded their first demo with Cairns filling in on bass guitar...
. "Screamager" appears on the Shortsharpshock E.P.
Shortsharpshock E.P.
Shortsharpshock was the first EP released by the band Therapy?. It was released on March 8, 1993 through A&M Records. Its lead track is Screamager, which reached number 9 in the UK Top 40, leading to an appearance on Top of the Pops. It also reached number 2 in the Irish Singles Chart...
, and the album, Troublegum
Troublegum
Troublegum was the second major label album by the band Therapy? It was released on February 7, 1994 on A&M Records. The album was recorded in 1993 at Chipping Norton Studio in Oxford, as well as Rak Studios and Church Studios, both in London. It had a melodically dark, metal-like sound. The album...
.
The track "White Kids Aren't Hyphy" is loosely based on the song "I Wish" by Skee-Lo
Skee-Lo
Antoine Roundtree , better known as Skee-Lo, is an American rapper. He is best known for his 1995 song, "I Wish", which became a top-40 hit in several countries....
.
The title of the album is a tribute to Wesley Willis
Wesley Willis
Wesley Willis was a musician and artist from Chicago. A diagnosed chronic schizophrenic, he gained an enormous cult following in the 1990s after releasing several hundred songs of simple but unique music, with emphasis on his humorous, bizarre, and frequently obscene lyrics...
, who appeared at the end of the MC Lars song "Yes, I Am an Alien". At the end of the song, Wesley says that he will write a song about Lars on his new album, called "This Gigantic Robot Kills". Wesley died shortly after.
Tracks
- "Where Ya Been Lars?"
- "True Player for Real" (featuring "Weird Al" Yankovic"Weird Al" YankovicAlfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic is an American singer-songwriter, music producer, accordionist, actor, comedian, writer, satirist, and parodist. Yankovic is known for his humorous songs that make light of popular culture and that often parody specific songs by contemporary musical acts...
on accordion & WheatusWheatusWheatus are an American rock group from Northport, New York. They are known for their 2000 single "Teenage Dirtbag" which was featured in the movie Loser, as well as in the HBO miniseries Generation Kill.-1995-2002: Formation and Wheatus:...
) - "Hipster Girl"
- "It's Not Easy (Being Green)" (featuring Pierre BouvierPierre BouvierPierre Charles Bouvier is a French Canadian musician, who is best known as the lead singer for pop punk band Simple Plan.At the age of 13, he founded the punk rock band Reset with his best friend Chuck Comeau in which he was the bassist and lead vocalist. He eventually wasn't enjoying his role...
of Simple PlanSimple PlanSimple Plan is a Canadian pop punk band from Montréal, Québec. The band has had no line up changes since its inception in 1999. Members are Pierre Bouvier , Jeff Stinco , Sébastien Lefebvre , David Desrosiers and Chuck Comeau...
) - "This Gigantic Robot Kills" (featuring Suburban LegendsSuburban LegendsSuburban Legends are a third wave ska/pop band that formed in Huntington Beach, California, in 1998, and are currently based out of Santa Ana, California.- History :...
and the MC Bat Commander) - "No Logo" (featuring Jesse DangerouslyJesse DangerouslyJesse Dangerously is an alternative hip hop artist from Halifax, Nova Scotia. He is an active member of the Canadian East Coast music scene through the release of his own albums, appearing as guest vocalist on a large number of recordings by other artists, hosting a weekly radio show, writing a...
) - "35 Laurel Drive"
- "Twenty-Three" (featuring Amie Miriello from Dirtie BlondeDirtie BlondeDirtie Blonde was a rock band that consisted of vocalist Amie Miriello, acoustic guitarist Jay Dmuchowski, lead guitarist Sean Kipe, bassist Dean Moore and drummer Tim Perez. The band released the hit single "Walk Over Me" from their self-titled album in the spring of 2006 on the Jive Records...
) - "Guitar Hero Hero (Beating Guitar Hero Doesn't Make You SlashSlash (musician)Saul Hudson , known by his stage name Slash, is a British-American musician and songwriter. He is best known as the former lead guitarist of the American hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he achieved worldwide success in the late 1980s and early 1990s. During his later years with Guns N'...
)" (featuring Parry GrippParry GrippParry Gripp is a singer-songwriter as well as lead vocalist and guitarist for the pop punk band Nerf Herder.As a songwriter, Gripp is best known for fake jingles, as in his 2005 solo album For Those About to Shop, We Salute You - a 51-track concept album mimicking various musical styles as product...
and Paul GilbertPaul GilbertPaul Brandon Gilbert is an American guitarist. He is well known for his technical guitar work with Racer X and Mr...
) - "O.G. Original Gamer" (featuring MC FrontalotMC FrontalotDamian Hess , better known by stage name MC Frontalot, is a Brooklyn-based hip hop musician and self-proclaimed "world's 579th greatest rapper". He is best known in nerdcore hip hop and video game culture, for naming the nerdcore subgenre, and performing at Penny Arcades annual Penny Arcade Expo...
and Jonathan CoultonJonathan CoultonJonathan Coulton is an American singer-songwriter, known for his songs about geek culture and his use of the Internet to draw fans...
) - "We Have Arrived" (featuring K.Flay, YTCrackerYTCrackerBryce Case, Jr. , otherwise known as YTCracker , is a former cracker most known for defacing the webpages of several federal and municipal government websites in the United States, as well as several in private industry at the age of 17...
and the Former Fat Boys) - "White Kids Aren't HyphyHyphyThe word hyphy is Conor Devlin's preferred short word meaning "hyperactive." It was created by Bay Area rapper Keak Da Sneak when he used the term on an album he recorded in 1994. From the USA Today article: "Every record label was getting at us at that time, but we fumbled the ball," says E-40,...
" - "Hey There Ophelia" (featuring Gabe SaportaGabe SaportaGabriel Eduardo "Gabe" Saporta is the lead singer and primary creative force behind the synthpop band Cobra Starship. He was previously the lead singer, bassist, and lyricist for the pop punk band Midtown....
of Cobra StarshipCobra StarshipCobra Starship is an American synthpop band created by former Midtown bassist and lead vocalist Gabe Saporta in 2003 in New York City, New York...
and Brett Anderson, of The DonnasThe DonnasThe Donnas are an American all-female rock band from Palo Alto, California. They draw inspiration from The Ramones, The Runaways, AC/DC, Bachman–Turner Overdrive and Kiss. Rolling Stone has stated that "the Donnas offer a guileless take on adolescent alienation; they traffic in kicks, not...
, as Ophelia) - "(Lord It's Hard to Be Happy When You're Not) Using the Metric System" (Atom & His Package cover) (featuring Worm QuartetWorm QuartetWorm Quartet is a one-man Comedy Synth Punk band portrayed on album covers as a group of four worms. The "band" has a growing cult following thanks to exposure on the Dr. Demento show...
)